


The Binary Star Meditation

by Louise_1



Category: The Big Bang Theory (TV)
Genre: Commentary, M/M, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-07
Updated: 2016-10-07
Packaged: 2018-08-20 00:24:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8229863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Louise_1/pseuds/Louise_1
Summary: Thoughts on Howard & Raj.





	

The phrase “Howard and Raj” functions like a complete sentence. There is no need for additions or subtractions. “Howard and Raj” is a complete concept, indivisible. There is no “Howard and Raj and Someone Else.” There is no “Howard and Raj plus So-and-So.”

 

There is no trio, there is no triangle, there is no trinity, there is no quartet or quadrangle.

 

There is Raj and Howard, and they are a team, a duo, a pair, a unit. They are buddies, companions, comrades, partners in adventure and endeavor. They are sufficient.

 

The great duos of history and fiction did not need the addition of a third or fourth party. There is no Holmes and Watson and Someone. There is no Batman and Robin and Someone. There is no Tom and Huck and Someone, or Quixote and Sancho and Someone. There is no Three Musketeers, in this situation. There is no Castor and Pollux plus some other, brighter, newer star.

 

Of course, this is not to say that these famous duos existed in a vacuum, in total isolation. They might have other friends, other associates, other allies and connections and colleagues, but a truly great duo does not become a trio. They might have other ties, other obligations, other contacts and supporters--and of course, they’ll probably have enemies, too.

But the point is that “Who are Holmes and Watson and Someone?” will never be the answer to a Jeopardy question.

“Who are Mulder and Scully and Someone?” will never be a memetic part of pop-culture history.

“Who are Tom and Huck and Somebody?” will be never be printed on a Trivial Pursuit card.

 

Raj and Howard are best friends. The special thing about a best friend is that the word “best” has no qualifiers, no modifiers. There is no such thing as “better than best”, because the word _best_ is a superlative, in grammatical terms.

 

A stranger cannot suddenly appear out of nowhere and become Howard’s “new best friend", or partner, or constant companion. A random person cannot wander into view and somehow become Raj’s “new best friend", or partner, or constant companion.

 

There is Raj and Howard, there is Howard and Raj. They are a classic duo and their bond of friendship is beautiful and lasting. It is synergistic and collaborative. They are two sides of the same coin. They are Yin and Yang. They are two distinct individuals who enhance, rather than consuming or diluting or extinguishing, each other’s individuality.

It is a beautifully symbiotic friendship, classic and memorable and irreducible, unbreakable and unassailable.

 

There is not, and never will be, “Howard and Raj Plus So-and-So.” One does not add some shampoo or battery acid or tomato soup to one’s Rum & Coke or Gin & Tonic.

 

To tamper with something iconic and unique, to interfere with that special bond, to interrupt that current of shared energy, to drop a rotten egg into that subtle chemistry, is an act of destruction.

 

It is ignorant. It is short-sighted. It is careless and reckless. It is lacking in appreciation of just how magical these two are, and were, and can be.

 

One does not make chocolate chip cookie dough and then add a cupful of sand or ketchup or bleach. The added ingredient will always be precisely that; an add-on. It is totally unnecessary and without purpose or meaning. The inferior quality of the additional piece will always be very obvious. It is manifestly flimsy, shoddy, and dull. It is like a prosthetic limb on someone with their two arms and two legs intact. It like putting plastic swim-fins on a fish, or giving a hang glider to a bat.

 

One does not tamper with things that are classic, iconic, timeless, and memorable. One does not attach a dead weight to something that used to be as light and free as air. One does not attach training wheels to a streamlined and painstakingly calibrated machine.

 

One does not fuck around with friendship.

That is what is indicated by words like “iconic” and “timeless.”


End file.
